Corporate donors to the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation got an inside look this week at how their contributions are being put to use at LMH.
On Tuesday afternoon, guests were invited to tour three of the hospital’s surgical theatres, to see firsthand some of the medical equipment — purchased by Fraser Health, with funds raised by the LMH Foundation — in use, and to have a go at a couple procedures themselves.
Dressed in caps and gowns, with shoes covered and — in the case of those without a flu shot — wearing masks, visitors rotated through the operating rooms where, using plastic models, LMH surgeons demonstrated how they are able to examine patients using specially designed scopes and monitors, and perform minimally invasive surgical procedures.
Guests were then invited to try out the colonoscopes and ureteroscopes on the models.
Some practised suturing a kidney while others worked to remove a small kidney stone, using only a camera inserted in a fine plastic tube to guide them.
They also got the chance to try out the hospital’s ENT (ear, nose and throat) video tower and navigational system, guided by the hospital’s chief of surgery, Dr. Mitra Maharaj.
Fraser Health purchased that particular set of equipment, valued at $105,000, using funding provided by the P.A. Woodward Foundation, Rotary Club of Langley Central and some money raised through the LMH Foundation gala event.
By far, the most common procedure carried out at LMH, said Dr. Michael Goodwin, is colonoscopies.
Valued at $26,000 each, more colonoscopes are needed to ensure that patients are able to be examined as quickly as possible, explained Goodwin.
Ten would be the minimum number of the scopes the hospital would like to have to ensure that as many patients as possible are seen each day, he said, noting it currently has six.
To hear the volume of procedures, especially colonoscopies, carried out at LMH each day was eye opening, said the foundation’s Kate Ludlam, who joined the tour.
The costly equipment is used so often that it wears out and needs to be replaced regularly, she added.
In addition to new colonoscopes, a number of other items remain on Langley Memorial Hospital’s wish list, including another ureteroscope, defibrillators, mobile shower chairs and an incubator. For more information, go to
lmhfoundation.com.